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 Death
and Architecture
The subjects of commemorative structures and of cemeteries have
suffered a curious neglect in recent years. Yet travellers from
Herodotus to Baedeker have sought out tombs and mausolea of earlier
times as self-evidently significant and worth seeing. The contemporary
traveller misses much if cemeteries and the architecture of death
are avoided.
Curl is recognised as a pioneering scholar in several fields of
research, not least that concerned with a celebration of death
in architectural terms. In this handsome work his wisdom and compassion
are brought to a subject that all too often is dismissed as unimportant:
he demonstrates that in fact death has inspired some of the noblest
monumental buildings ever conceived in the West. His book's message
rings out as clearly as the Last Trump: the tomb has been the
great chronicler of taste throughout all history.
Death and Architecture. An Introduction to Funerary and Commemorative
Buildings in the Western European Tradition, with Some Consideration
of their Settings (Thrupp, Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd.,
2002).
ISBN: 0-7509-2877-8 (hbk.)
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details on how to purchase this book
Although out of print a few copies of this book are still
available directly from the author - click
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Reviews
'Curl has paid due regard to the tomb. I salute his study and
recommend it for a fresh look at immortality'.
The Times
' A source of wonder and delight. Its publication should ....be
celebrated, for its virtues are many and important'.
The Sunday Times
' Curl has established his credentials in this field....and....brings
to his subject the zest which it demands. The excellence of his
illustrations fitly complements his text. A prodigious quantity
of information is here assembled, as never before in English'.
The Times Literary Supplement
'An admirable culmination of research over several years...a fascinating
study'.
The Yorkshire Post
' A large and beautifully illustrated book...Curl's taste is very
catholic indeed...his text is a useful and interesting presentation
of very valuable material. He writes with warmth and perception
about all the grander aspects of his subject'.
The Observer
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